


Band Practice

by Hekate1308



Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-07 23:43:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17970320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hekate1308/pseuds/Hekate1308
Summary: They’d made it a rule early on not to gossip between themselves about the other members of the band. If they couldn’t trust one another to respect their privacy, then how could they possibly expect to see each other regularly at practice and concerts?Still, there were exceptions.Lewis/Hathaway, Outsider POV





	Band Practice

**Author's Note:**

> Decided it was time for some Lewis/Hathaway fic this weekend. Enjoy!

They’d made it a rule early on not to gossip between themselves about the other members of the band. If they couldn’t trust one another to respect their privacy, then how could they possibly expect to see each other regularly at practice and concerts?

Still, there were exceptions.

“He’s in love with him” Mary, their petite but determined drummer (“Anyone make a joke about my biggest drum being taller than me and you will learn what else I can do with these sticks…”) told Tom one evening.

“Hm?” he asked. He’d been busy observing James and his boss, who’d come to one of their performances for the first time tonight. He certainly didn’t think he’d ever stood so close to any boss he’d ever had, nor that they had ever felt comfortable laying a hand on his forearm when trying to catch their attention.

As if that had been necessary. James was clearly riveted to the spot. Whatever DI Lewis had to tell him must be important.

Or not, if Mary was right. “You think –“

“Have you ever seen James act like that around anyone else?”

No. No, he hadn’t. The way his face had lit up when DI Lewis showed…

“But he’s about a million years older than him!”

She glared at Tom. “Don’t you dare. From what I can tell, he is really nice, and there is something to be said for experience, you know…”

“Mary!”

She giggled. “Alright, alright, I won’t say anything, but just look at them.”

He did, over the course of the whole evening, feeling like a bloody paparazzi at times, but he did eventually come to the conclusion that Mary was right, although he certainly wouldn’t tell her.

James Hathaway. In love. And with his boss, of all people. Who would have thought.

* * *

 

He didn’t know if any of the other members of the band had noticed – again, it was rather better if they didn’t talk behind each other’s backs – but the more often DI “Call me Robbie” Lewis showed up, the clearer it became that James was in head over heels. He’d never seen him smile so much or so often than he did when he was around Robbie, or be in such high spirits.

And if you asked Tom, it all didn’t bode well for him. Yes, James was a closed book on a good day, but that didn’t mean he wanted him to suffer from a broken heart, and all signs pointed to that eventually being the case. The man had been happily married for over twenty years – to a woman – he’d grown children who weren’t that much younger than James, and while sometimes, Tom thought that his behaviour towards his sergeant was a bit too friendly than it should have been, considering they worked together, that was most likely only fatherly concern. Robbie was nothing if not friendly and courteous, after all.

So yes, things did not look good.

And over time, he realized that James knew it was hopeless as well. Now and then, that brilliant smile of his when he saw Robbie would dim, or he would try and stay away from him for a bit at their after-performance drinks; usually a hopeless endeavour, since he always seemed drawn to him like a moth to a flame.

On such occasions, Tom could feel Mary’s eyes on him and was certain she was thinking the same thing she was.

It was right after James returned from Croatia that Dr. “It’s Laura, I insist” Hobson started showing up with Robbie. He knew the moment he saw them.

Poor James.

He did hide it well, Tom thought. He clearly was friends with both of them, and he played the part of “guy who was really happy that two of his acquaintances finally got over themselves and together” excellently.

But Tom hadn’t been playing music with him for years for nothing, and he saw what lurked behind his eyes.

He caught Mary’s eyes.

She had to look away.

* * *

 

Maybe, he later thought, if all those things hadn’t just happened at the same time – James being proven that he would never have a chance with the man he’d been in love with for years now, that unfortunate suicide, he going through a bout of the “existential flue” as he had once called it to all of their amusement, he wouldn’t have just spontaneously decided to run away and go visit some cathedral in Spain on foot.

They were down one pretty bloody great guitar player, and what was more important, Tom was relatively certain he was tramping around Europe with a broken heart.

Robbie and Laura still came to their performances, but it was obvious they missed James as much, perhaps even more, than they did.

As a matter of fact, sometimes when his name came up, Tom could have sworn there was something in Robbie’s eyes…

He dismissed the thought. That way lay madness.

* * *

 

“He does know Robbie’s girlfriend is right there, does he?” Mary asked.

Tom glanced at the corner he had very much tried not to look at for the last hour. James was back – and working for the police again, too, with Robbie, through some twist of fate he didn’t quite understand – and currently in a deep discussion with his former boss and current co-worker, which seemed like it had already been going on forever. Laura was watching them with an indulgent smile on her face.

“I don’t think he’s aware of anything other than… well… at the moment” he replied.

She sighed. “that’s what I was afraid of. Really, he undertakes a pilgrimage, and not even that seems to work. I’m starting to worry.”

Welcome to the bloody club, Tom thought.

* * *

 

After James’ return to England and his duties, they seemed to strike a balance. Tom more than once suspected that Laura, at least, was aware of James’ feelings for Robbie but was too nice to mention it.

What surprised him most was that now and then, he could have sworn there were cracks beginning to show – in her and Robbie’s relationship, of all things. As far as he could tell, it had nothing to do with James; no, now and then Laura and Robbie simply wanted different things, and they had never clicked as easily or as quickly as he and James had.

He never thought about it for too long because he rather assumed James didn’t allow himself to, either.

But in the end, Robbie and Laura went off to New Zealand together, and Tom was too relieved that James appeared fine with it to wonder.

Yet he couldn’t help but do so when Robbie returned early, without Laura. From what he said, it appeared to have been an amicable split, and he certainly seemed to be more than happy to be back in Oxford and having drinks with James and them after their performances which he once again visited without fail.

Mary was worried, so worried that she one day dragged him out for dinner. “This isn’t good. James is slipping right back in there.”

“In there?” he asked.

She snorted. “Come on. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed. He’s as bad as when it first began.”

Yes, he had indeed noticed, but had hoped that he was mistaken.

“On the other hand…” She stared into space for a moment than continued, “Do you think there’s a chance Robbie feels the same way?”

It was all he could do not to choke on his drink. “Robbie Lewis? The guy who had two important relationships in his life, one of them with his wife and the other with Laura Hobson? The over-sixty-year-old still kind-of policeman? That Robbie Lewis?”

“They sit awfully close together.”

“They always sat awfully close together.”

“My point.”

The problem was, Tom decided right there and then, that he had never understood women.

* * *

 

And then things changed. At first, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it – apart from the fact that James suddenly seemed to laugh and smile a lot more and just generally be more content than he had in quite a long time, maybe ever – but then Robbie came to their next concert and when James saw him, his eyes lit up.

Tom connected the dots when he saw the exact same expression on Robbie’s face.

The next thing he was aware of was Mary’s almost painfully tight grip on his arm. “Oh my God! They did it!”

“Mary!” he hissed.

“I meant they got together, Tom, get your mind out of the gutter.”

He still wasn’t entirely sure until he later caught them – well, cuddling in a dark corner, talking quietly.

Well. Good for James. Finally someone who’d look after him. And really, Robbie was such a nice bloke; he deserved happiness too.

The other members of their band noticed it as well, of course, but they all came to an unspoken agreement not to say anything.

It was just as well. For the next time they had to look for a guitar player to fill James’s spot, albeit temporarily, was at his and Robbie’s wedding ten months later.


End file.
